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Louisi Louisiana Geological Survey

NewsInsights
Summer 2007 • Volume 17, Number 1

The Houston Ridge: An Ancient

Shoreline in Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana
Paul Heinrich
A prominent feature of Southwest
Louisiana is 19 mile-long (32 km-long),
narrow, east-west trending ridge, which
lies in northern Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana
about 4 miles (6.4 km) north of Sulphur,
Louisiana This ridge rises between 6 to
15 feet (2 to 4.6 m) above the surface of
the northern edge of a low coast-parallel
terrace, which is the surface of the
Beaumont Alloformation of the Prairie
Allogroup as mapped by Heinrich et al.
(2002). Relict channels of the Sabine River
and valleys occupied by the Houston River
and West Fork of the Calcasieu River have
cut the once-continuous Houston Ridge
into several segments (Figure 1).
Geomorphology
Using Digital Elevation Models (DEM)
constructed from LIght Detection And
Ranging (LIDAR) data, the geomorphology
of the Houston Ridge was remapped. The
LIDAR DEMs, which are available from
the Atlas: The Louisiana Statewide GIS
25’ 46.56”W. The crest of this ridge typically ranges in elevation from 30 to 36 feet (9 to 11
m) above mean sea level and rises 6 to 15 feet (2 to 4.5 m) above the surface of the adjacent
Beaumont Alloformation. The LIDAR DEMs show that the surface of both the Houston
Ridge and other parts of the Beaumont Alloformation has been extensively modified by the
formation of innumerable pimple mounds. However, remnants of beach-like ridge and swale
can be seen in the LIDAR DEMs within the eastern end of the Houston Ridge. The southern
edge of this segment is a steep, slightly arcurate scarp. The northern edge of this segment is
highly irregular and gently sloping with numerous channel-like embayments, which are often
associated with fan-like topographic features, apparent in the LIDAR DEMs. Along this
segment, a complete lack of relict fluvial landforms and evidence for fluvial sculpturing was
seen in the LIDAR DEMS, except where a relict Sabine River channel has cut a piece off of
the westernmost end of it.
A 3 mile-long (4.9 km-long) segment, within the middle of the Houston Ridge extends from
where it has been cut by relict channels of the Sabine River at 30° 18’ 15.94”N 93° 25’ 59.83”W
to where the valley of the Houston River cuts through this ridge at 30° 18’ 7.41”N 93° 22’
50.49”W (Figure 1). This segment varies in width from 1,600 to 2,900 feet (500 to 900 m)
wide and 25 to 28 feet (7.6 to 8.5 m) in elevation. The surface of this segment has been so
severely modified by the formation of pimple mounds and dissection that only indecipherable
fragments of its original constructional morphology remain.
30° 22’ 30” 30° 22’ 30”
93° 30’
93° 37’ 30”

93° 22’ 30”

web page at http://atlas.lsu.edu/, allowed

Matchline with Below Figure

93° 45’

the recognition, interpretation, and map-

ping of the very subtle landforms of various Starks
origins, which are associated with it. Many
of these landforms are not otherwise either A
B
observable or mappable from aerial im-
ages and 1:24,000-scale topographic maps. 1 mile

From the analysis of the LIDAR DEMs, the 30° 15’ 30° 15’

Houston Ridge was subdivided into three LEGEND Deweyville Allogroup

major segments as shown in Figure 1. 30° 22’ 30”
93° 15’

93° 07’ 30”

Pleistocene Merryville
Lissie Alloformation
Alloformation
Matchline with Above Figure

Fredonia
The western segment of the Houston Ridge Prairie Allogroup Alloformation

consists of a 9.8 mile-long (16 km-long) Buhler Beaumont

Alloformation
Holocene
Undiffererntiated
93° 22’ 30”

narrow, 1,600 to 2,600 feet (500 to 800 Relict channel alluvium

Poorly defined
m), wide ridge extending westward to SH Moss Bluff
relict channel
Backswamp
Meander belt
within 3.4 miles (5.6 km) of the eastern Fault-line scarp
Relict meander
deposits

wall of the Sabine River valley at 30° 17’ Houston River belts B Cross-sections
Towns
17.15”N 93° 35’ 43.60”W. Lake Charles 1 mile
Ridge segments
Relict beach
SH SamHouston Jones
State Park
The relict channels of an 30° 15’ Westlake (North) 30° 15’
(?) ridges River
Water
abandoned Sabine River
course truncate the east- Figure 1. Geologic map of the Houston Ridge area showing distribution of landforms associated
ern end of this segment with it and the surface of the Beaumont Alloformation. Modified from Heinrich et al. (2002) using
at 30° 18’ 00.62”N 93° LIDAR DEMs and 1998 Digital Orthophoto Quarter Quadrangles.
1934

Summer 2007 Louisiana Geological Survey 

NewsInsights • www.lgs.lsu.edu

The eastern segment of the Houston Ridge sandy sediments composing the Houston

The Louisiana consists of a 6.8 mile-long (11 km-long),

which extends from the eastern valley wall
Ridge become slightly finer grained, better
sorted, and better rounded eastward along

Geological Survey
of the Houston River at 30° 18’ 05.49”N the ridge. Neither Graf (1966), Barrilleaux
93° 22’ 41.49”W to and including Houston (1986), Otvos (1991), nor Otvos and
Jones State Park at 30° 18’ 04.69”N 93° Howat (1997) found any fossils within the
LOUISIANA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 15’ 41.17”W (Figure 1). Where it has not sediments comprising the Houston Ridge.
Chacko J. John, Director and State Geologist been destroyed by the lateral migration of However, Aronow (1986) reported collect-
Board of Advisers the Houston River, the southern edge of ing an oyster shell, which was dated as being
Frank W. Harrison, Jr., Chair this segment of the Houston Ridge exhib- older than 40,200 BP, from the north side
Senator Max T. Malone its a sharp steep scarp. The northern edge of the Houston Ridge, where the Houston
Karen Gautreaux drops gently down to the surface of the River cuts through it, in SW1/4, Sec. 2,
James M. Coleman Beaumont Alloformation. Except where T.9S., R.10W.
William E. Marsalis
the valleys of the Houston River and West
Rep. William B. Daniel, IV An unpublished boring made as part of
William Fenstermaker Fork of the Calcasieu River have either
preparing Snead et al. (1997) penetrated
cut into or through it, a complete lack of
LGS News Staff 21 feet (6.3 m) of sandy sediments un-
any evidence of fluvial sculpturing of the
Editor/Chacko John derlying the crest of the Houston Ridge
Houston Ridge was found. Despite intensive
Production Manager/John Snead within NW1/4, of Sec. 9, T.9S., R.11W. The
Design/Lisa Pond modification of the surface of The Houston
sediments composing the Houston Ridge
Word Processor/Ann Tircuit Ridge, LIDAR DEMs revealed the presence
encountered in this drill hole, from top
of poorly preserved ridges and swales on
Publication Sales/Patrick O’Neill to bottom, consisted of 16.3 feet (5 m) of
Telephone: (225) 578-8590 the surface of it. Both immediately east and
brown to brown yellow, highly weathered,
Fax: (225) 578-3662 west of where the valley of the West Fork
massive loamy sand overlying 4.6 feet (1.4
of the Calcasieu River cuts through this
The LGS NewsInsights is published semiannually m) of dark bluish gray, medium-grained
and distributed to professionals, state agencies, ridge, the Houston Ridge exhibits recurved,
sand with thin clay interbeds containing
federal agencies, companies, and other organi- poorly preserved, spit-like ridges as seen in
wood fragments. In this drill hole, 8.3 feet
zations associated with geological research and LIDAR DEMs.
(2.5 m) of dark gray laminated clay con-
applications. Call the main office for extra
Starting south of the end of the Houston taining shell fragments, wood fragments,
copies. It is also accessible on the website.
Ridge within Sam Houston Jones State and silt laminae separates the above sandy
Location & Mailing Address Park, a lower and more poorly defined sediments from older, pedogenically altered
Louisiana State University ridge extends for distance of about 9.1 miles Pleistocene sediments.
Room 3079, Energy, Coast & (15 km) from immediately south of Sam
Environment Bldg. According to Barrilleaux (1986), the strip
Houston State Park at 30° 17’ 57.96”N,
Baton Rouge, LA 70803 of the Beaumont Alloformation lying north
93° 16’ 30.05”W to the west valley wall of
Telephone: (225) 578-5320 of the Houston Ridge and south of where
the Calcasieu River at 30° 17’ 15.85”N, 93°
Fax: (225) 578-3662 it pinches out against the edge of Lissie
07’ 13.19W”. The width of this segments
Alloformation consists interbedded red
ranges from 1,600 to 2,600 feet (500 to 800
and gray clay, sandy clay, and silt. These
LGS Mission Statement m) to as much as 3,300 to 4,900 feet (1,000
sediments typically consist of less than 25
to 1,500 m) at its easternmost end within
The goals of the Geological Survey are percent sand. One sample of these sediments
Sam Houston Jones State Park. The surface
to perform geological investigations recovered from a boring immediately north
of this ridge exhibits poorly preserved and
that benefit the state of Louisiana by: of the Houston Ridge yielded a couple of
deeply eroded coast-parallel ridge and
specimens of the agglutinated foraminifera,
(1) encouraging the economic swale topography as can be seen in the
Ammonia beccarii (Barrilleaux 1986).
development of the natural LIDAR DEMs (Figure 1). Some of these
resources of the state (energy, ridges exhibit recurved spit-like morphol- Internal Structure
mineral, water, and environmental); ogy. The Houston Ridge has poorly defined Although Graf (1966), Barrilleaux (1986),
edges and a relief of 4 to 7 feet (1.2 to 2.1 Otvos (1991), and Otvos and Howat (1997)
(2) providing unbiased geologic
m) above the level of the surface of the have studied the Houston Ridge using
information on natural and
Beaumont Alloformation along its western auger or drill holes, the information about
environmental hazards; and
end. Eastward, the relief disappears as the the internal structure of it is quite limited.
(3) ensuring the effective transfer of ridge drops in elevation and merges with the Because his borings failed to reach the base
geological information. surface of the Beaumont Alloformation. of these sediments, Graf (1966) only deter-
The Louisiana Geological Survey was created by Act 131 of the
Graf (1966), Barrilleaux (1986), and Otvos mined that the sandy sediments comprising
Louisiana Legislature in 1934 to investigate the geology and
resources of the State. LGS is presently a research unit affiliated (1991) have described the lithology of the this ridge are more than 10 to 15 feet (3 to
with the Louisiana State University and reports through the
sediments composing the Houston Ridge. 4.6 m) thick in places. Otvos (1991) and
Executive Director of the Center for Energy Studies to the Vice
Chancellor for Research and Graduate Studies. In general, they describe the sediments Otvos and Howat (1997), stated that the
comprising the Houston Ridge as consist- “Prairie sequence” comprising the Houston
ing of sand, loamy sand, and sandy loam. Ridge, as penetrated by Drill Holes no. 3
Barrilleaux (1986) shows the sediments and 4 are 21 feet (6.3 m) thick. However,
composing the Houston ridge as consist- these papers fail to provide any precise
ing of more than 75 percent fine to very details about the internal stratigraphy of
fine-grained sand. This thesis noted that the

 Louisiana Geological Survey Summer 2007

 www.lgs.lsu.edu • NewsInsights

the Houston Ridge. As previously noted, boring North B South

by the Louisiana State Geological Survey found
21 feet (6.3 m) of sandy sediments underlying the 34 34
crest of it at one location. Sand, loamy sand, and
B
sandy loam
The most detailed information concerning the Silty clay loam to clay
30 30
internal structure of the Houston Ridge consist

Elevation (feet) Above Mean Sea Level

Elevation (feet) Above Mean Sea Level

B Boring location
of two unpublished cross-sections of the western
B
segment, Figures 2 and 3, made from borings by 26 B B 26
B
Mr. Clay Midkiff, Dr. Bob J. Miller, and Mr. B. A.
Touchet in 1984 and 1985 (Miller 1985). Cross B
B
Section A shows the Houston Ridge consisting of 22 22
a 18 foot-thick (5.5 m-thick) core of sand, loamy
sand, and sandy loam surrounded on both sides
18 18
by silty clay and clay. Extending southward from
the base of this core is a 4 to 8 foot-thick (1.2
to 2.4 m-thick) tongue of sandy and loamy sedi- 14 14
ments. Cross Section B shows the Houston Ridge
as consisting of a 10 foot-thick (3 m-thick) core
of sand, loamy sand, and sandy loam overlying 10 10
interlayered sandy sediments and clay surrounded
by silty clay and clay. The interlayed sandy sedi- 0 2,000 4,000 6,000 8,000 10,000
ments and clays also extend southward as 5 to
7 foot-thick (1.5 to 2.1 m-thick) tongue, which Figure 2. North-south Cross-section A of the Houston Ridge along the east edge
grades into loamy fine sand. Cross sections A-A’ of Sections 4 and 9, T.9S., R.11W., Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana. (Redrawn and
and C-C’ of Barrilleaux (1986) also illustrate a modified, by permission, from Miller 1985)
similar internal structure for the Houston Ridge.
B South
Origin North
26 26
Houston Ridge has been recognized as a barrier B
Sand, loamy sand, and
ridge and ancient shoreline in a number of geo- sandy loam
morphic and geologic maps, including Bernard 22 Interstratified clay B B B B 22
Elevation (feet) Above Mean Sea Level

Elevation (feet) Above Mean Sea Level

and LeBlanc (1965), Fisk and McFarlan (1959), sandy sediments B
Silty clay loam
Otvos (1972), Barrilleaux (1986), and Winker to clay
18 18
(1991). These authors map this landform as the B
Boring location
eastern end of the coast-parallel barrier island
- beach ridge system extending from South Texas 14 14
into Calcasieu Parish called the “Ingleside Bar-
rier Trend”. Of these studies, only Graf (1966),
Aronow (1986), and Barrilleaux (1986) discuss 10 10
the physical character of the Houston Ridge in
any detail.
6 6
In contrast, Otvos (1991) and Otvos and Howat
(1997) dispute the identification of the Houston
2 2
Ridge as being a relict barrier island. They argue
0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000
that the Houston Ridge is a linear ridge, an “inter-
Distance (Feet)
fluve” created by the erosion of alluvial sediments
Figure 3. North-south Cross-section B of the Houston Ridge along the
of the Beaumont Alloformation because the sedi-
east edge of Sections 4 and 9, T.9S., R.10W., Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana.
ments composing it are too muddy; the sediments (Redrawn and modified, by permission, from Miller 1985)
composing it and underlying its “lagoon” lack fos-
sils; diagnostic strandplain topography is absent
from its crests; “ridge-parallel” river channels occur along its sides; the sediments of the Houston Ridge. Barrilleaux (1986) reported
and the Houston Ridge parallels regional faults and lineaments. the presence of the agglutinated foraminifera, Ammonia beccarii
from sediments inferred to have accumulated in a lagoon behind the
None of these observations provide convincing evidence for the
Houston Ridge. In addition, the LIDAR DEMs show the remnants
Houston Ridge being a landform sculptured by erosion processes
of ridge-like features along the crest of the Houston Ridge, as also
along pre-existing lineaments. Relative to the surface and sediments
reported by Barrilleaux (1986), which can be readily interpreted to
of the adjacent Beaumont, the Houston Ridge has significantly
the remains of severely degraded beach ridges and spits. The intense
greater relief and contains a much higher percentage of sand. As a re-
modification of the original surface morphology of the Houston
sult of their higher elevation and greater permeability, the sediments
Ridge by the formation of the pimple mounds and, as argued by
composing the ridge have been subject to greater through-flow of
Aronow (1986) by tree throws (the displacement of sediment by
water and have been more highly weathered than equivalent surface
the toppling of trees) is severe enough to explain the extremely poor
sediments of the Beaumont Alloformation. This greater degree of
preservation to complete absence of relict beach ridges, spits, and
weathering is sufficient to explain the typical lack of fossils within

Summer 2007 Louisiana Geological Survey 

NewsInsights • www.lgs.lsu.edu
other features characteristic of barrier islands and coastal beaches
on the Houston Ridge. In addition, the observed internal structure
of the Houston Ridge is more consistent with the internal structure
of a beach ridge than a fluvial ridge. Finally, the examination of the
LIDR DEMs failed to find any significant evidence of relict Sabine
River courses, which could have sculptured the Houston Ridge, and
of east-west lineaments, which would have guided the formation of
it by erosion.
In conclusion, as proposed by Graf (1966) and Barrilleaux (1986),
the Houston Ridge is a relict barrier island and valid segment of the
Ingleside Barrier Trend. The LIDAR DEMs clearly show relict ridges,
which although poorly preserved, are indicative of relict beach ridges
and spits (Figure 1). The cross-sections of Miller (1985), Figures 2
and 3, are consistent with the gross distribution of lithologies, which
would be found composing a relict barrier island.
As previously noted, an examination of the LIDAR DEMs revealed
a series of parallel ridges, which end in spit-like features, extending
from Sam Houston Jones State Park eastward to the western valley
wall of the Calcasieu River valley (Figure 1). The lack of subsurface
data precludes a definitive answer as to the origin of these ridges.
They do have the appearance of a partially buried strandplain, within
the Beaumont Alloformation, which formed during a younger and
slightly lower sea level highstand than the Houston Ridge. However,
detailed study of the sediments underlying these ridges will be needed
to determine their origin.
Age
The age of the Houston Ridge has not been directly determined.
Oyster shell collected by Aronow (1986) from the base of the
Houston Ridge yielded a radiocarbon date of greater than 40,200
BP. Many samples of wood and shell collected from the Beaumont
Formation in southeast Texas have yielded mainly “dead” radio-
carbon dates, which are greater then 40,000 BP (McFarlan 1961,
Otvos 1971, Aronow 1988). Given the lack of sea level highstands
during the last glacial, Wisconsin, stage, it appears that the Houston
Ridge could date to Marine Isotope Substage 5e, about 130,000 BP,
when sea level was 9 feet (3 m) above present mean sea level. Such
an age would suggest that the lower ridge system might represent
a younger sea level highstand during Marine Isotope Substage 5a,
about 85,000 BP, when sea level briefly peaked at slightly lower
elevations (Muhs et al. 2004).
Summary
Enough is known about the Houston Ridge and can be seen us-
ing LIDAR DEMs to still regard it as a relict barrier island, which
forms the eastern end of Ingleside Barrier Trend. At this time, it still
remains to be directly dated although it is inferred having formed
along the shoreline of the Gulf of Mexico when sea level was 10 to
20 feet (3 to 6 m) higher during the last interglacial period. Further
detailed research of the Houston Ridge and the lower ridge system
using ground-penetrating radar, cores, and optical dating, as done
in South Carolina by Blum and Willis (2005) and Willis (2006) will
be needed to understand their internal structure and development in
any detail and provide a definite date as to when they formed.
 Louisiana Geological Survey Summer 2007
References
Aronow, S., 1986, Surface geology Calcasieu Parish. Unpublished report
on file with U. S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resource
Conservation Service, Alexandria, Louisiana: Louisiana Geological
Survey, Open-File Report, no. 04-01.
Aronow, S. 1988. Stop 11--Deweyville/Beaumont Rose City Sand Pit.
In R. U. Birdseye and S. Aronow, eds., Late Quaternary Geology
of Southwestern Louisiana and Southeastern Texas: South-Central
Friends of the Pleistocene Sixth field Conference March 25-27, 1988,
Part 2. Lamar University, Beaumont, Texas, Pp.7-8.
Barrilleaux, J. 1986. The Geomorphology and Quaternary History of
the Houston Barrier Segment of the Ingleside Strandplain, Calcasieu
Parish, Louisiana: unpublished M.S. thesis, University of Southwestern
Louisiana, Lafayette, Louisiana.
Bernard, H. A., and R. J. LeBlanc. 1965. Resume of the Quaternary of
the northwestern Gulf of Mexico province. In H. E. Wright and D.G.
Frey, eds., The Quaternary of the United States. Princeton University
Press, Princeton, New Jersey, Pp. 137-185.
Blum, M., and R. Willis. 2005. Genetic stratigraphy and geochronology
of South Carolina shorelines: Implications for MIS 5A sea level:
Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. v. 37, no. 7,
p. 337.
Fisk, H. N., and E. McFarlan. 1959. Late Quaternary deltaic deposits
of the Mississippi River. In A. Poldervaart, ed., Crust of the Earth:
Special Paper no. 62. Geological Society of America, Boulder,
Colorado, Pp. 279-302.
Graf, C. H. 1966. The late Pleistocene Ingleside Barrier Trend, Texas and
Louisiana: unpublished M.S. thesis, Rice University, Houston, Texas.
Heinrich, P., J. I. Snead, and R. P. McCulloh. 2002. Lake Charles 30 x
60 Minute Geologic Quadrangle: Louisiana Geological Survey, Baton
Rouge, Louisiana, Scale 1:100,000.
McFarlan, E., Jr. 1961. Radiocarbon dating of Late Quaternary deposits,
South Louisiana: Geological Society of America Bulletin. v. 72, pp.
129–158.
Miller, B. J., 1985, personal correspondence of February 21, 1985.
Muhs, D. R., J. F. Wehmiller, K. R. Simmons, and L. L. York. 2004.
Quaternary sea-level history of the United States: Developments in
Quaternary Science, v. 1, Pp. 147-183.
Otvos, E. G. 1971. Relict eolian dunes and the age of the ‘‘Prairie’’
coastwise terrace, southeastern Louisiana: Geological Society of
America Bulletin 82, 1753–1758.
Otvos, E. G. 1972. Mississippi Gulf Coast Pleistocene beach barriers and
the age problem of the Atlantic-Gulf Coast ‘’Pamlico’’ -’’Ingleside’’
beach ridge system: Southeastern Geology. v. 14, pp. 241-250.
Otvos, E. G. 1991. Houston Ridge, SW Louisiana - end link in the late
Pleistocene Ingleside barrier chain? Prairie Formation newly defined:
Southeastern Geology. v. 31, pp. 235-249.
Otvos, E. G., and W. E. Howat. 1997. Texas-Louisiana “East Ingleside
Trend” — a Late Pleistocene Barrier Shoreline?: Gulf Coast
Association of Geological Societies Transactions. v. 47, pp. 443-452
Snead, J. I., P. V. Heinrich, and R. M. McCulloh. 1997. Lake Charles,
LA, 1:100,000-scale geologic quadrangle map: Louisiana Geological
Survey, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Scale 1:100,000.
Willis, R., Genetic Stratigraphy and Geochronology of Last Interglacial
Shorelines on the Central Coast of South Carolina: unpublished M.S.
thesis, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Winker, C. D. 1991. Quaternary geology, northwestern Gulf Coast,
Plate 8. In R. B. Morrison, ed., Quaternary nonglacial geology:
conterminous U. S.: The geology of North America vol. K-2.
Geological Society of America, Boulder, Colorado. Scale, 1:2,000,000.
Pp.